Birthday Bear

Hello and welcome to Friday with The Character Cafe. The challenge this week over at the challenge blog is:

ROUND CARD

This is my all time favorite TCC digistamp...I've used it several times. I think I've gotten better at coloring him too.

So all the kids are turning 3 (Bean already is), and I wanted to make a special card for her cousin. OK, now ask me if I ever made Bean a card...no, I didn't. But I HAVE to because I write my memories for that year and/or my hopes. Then, when Bean is older...I'm thinking after high school, she hopefully will read them and appreciate them.

Deets: TCC digistamp colored with Prismas, round nesties, sewing, bling, Celebrations Cricut cart for the "3" cut at 2 3/4" (regular and shadow).

So play along this week with your ROUND CARD and enter it at the Challenge Blog for your chance to win! Also, I hope you'll take a look at the rest of the DT (blogs on the right) for more inspiration!

This card also meets the following challenges:

• Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes Birthday
• Digital Tuesday - Dazzle Me (bling)

Embellish It!

Hello and happy Thursday! Today is a special posting for Designed2Delight. All the DT gals have created SUPER embellishment tutorials for you all. First, I want to show off my finished card using the D2D FREEBIE!!

I used Me & My Big Idea DP, the D2D freebie colored with Prisma Premier Markers, nesties and Worn Lipstick Ranger Ink for shading, sewing, sentiment is Stampin' Up, and the Felt Flower embellishment made by....ME! Next is my tutorial, then a sneek peek of all the other tutorials put together by the talented D2D team - with links to their blogs!

Make a felt or fabric flower embellishment:

There are many ways to make felt/fabric flower embellishments. This is just one way using the Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. I'm using the Dahlia, but the circles, scalloped circles, inverted scalloped, etc. all work well. The recipe: Plate A, Plate B, pieces of felt/fabric, nesties face DOWN, Plate C. I sometimes put a regular piece of CS (NOT 110lb PTI - something along the lines of 60lb) on top of the nesties before Plate C for a clean cut. I run the plates through once and then back again.

Doing it twice and with CS on top gives a nice clean cut.

I gather my supplies: felt/fabric pieces, thread and needle, and one button. Stack the felt/fabric and button and sew through all layers (just like sewing a button on a shirt).

Super simple handmade embellishment in under 5 minutes! Don't have a Cuttlebug or Nestabilities? No problem. Use pinking shears (those zig-zag scissors) and cut your own circles in two or three different sizes.

My personal preference for adhearing embellishments to my cards is Glue Dots. I picked these up at Michael's long ago and never have things fall apart.

Here is my final project.

**Make-Your-Own Embellishments Blog Extravaganza**

The Designed2Delight Lead Designers have been busy!! Follow all the links below to view 9 different tutorials for 9 different embellishments (on 8 different blogs) that YOU can make YOURSELF!!

Designed2Delight.com

Don't forget to stop by the Designed2Delight Digital Stamps group on Crafter's Digital Art Center for the details AND a FREE Digital Stamp!!

Jane ~ Make Your Own Buttons Tutorial

Lola ~ Make Your Own Felt and Fabric Flowers Tutorial

Faith ~ Make Your Own Faux Prima Flowers Tutorial

Kathy ~ Make Your Own Chipboard Accents Tutorial

Debbie ~ Scalloped Punched Paper Flower Tutorial

Robin ~ Stitching with Beads Tutorial

Michelle ~ Scallop Punched Flower/Medallion Tutorial

Michelle ~ Ribbon Frame Tutorial

Sherrie ~ Make Your Own Ribbon Roses Tutorial

Owl Love

I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm not the romantic type at all. I don't make lovey dovey cards but every once in a while, I come across an image that just makes me want to make a "love" card. Like this one I recently WON at MyGrafico:

I won a challenge not too long ago and got this adorable set. I colored it with Prisma Premier markers, and boy did I have one heck of a time staying in the lines!! I used a really light blue chalk ink with the nesties for shading. The paper is from my new mat stack: Me and My Big Ideas (that was the only title I saw on the cover). The sentiment is Hero Arts.

So whatcha think? Too PINK?

This card meets the following challenges:

• Card Patterns - sketch #74
• MyGrafico - embossing
• Cow Girl Sundays - Anything Goes!

Christmas in July

Welcome to Friday with The Character Cafe where the challenge this week is:

POCKET CARD

I'm not participating in this challenge, but I am using an adorable TCC Image to kick start my Christmas cards:

I know they are not traditional Christmas colors, but I'm not a traditional girl :) And that's what creating is all about anyway right? Making it "your own." A few details: image is TCC colored with Prisma Premier Markers, nesties with Tea Ranger Ink for shading, sewing, PTI and Wild Asparagus DP. The three little dots in the upper right are glitter CS punched with my Cropadile.

Whatcha think? I personally like it...it's a little "vintage." I also like the CAS look of it - I am one of those who believes CAS can contain patterned papers :)

So post your POCKET CARD at the TCC Challenge Blog for a chance to win digistamps (like the one I'm using!)!! Also, please leave a little love for the rest of the DT (blogs to the right---->).

This card meets the following challenges:

• Critter Challenge - Christmas in July with Sketch
• Friends Having Fun - Christmas in July
• The Pink Elephant - BROWN

Mini Monsters

Hello all. Just one more day till Friday! Anyway, last Saturday I got a new Cricut cart: Mini Monsters. It has some of the cutest creatures ever! Can you say "Halloween Crack?!" But I couldn't wait till October to start playing with it.

OK, so there's a bunch of monsters, but I also found this adorable frog with crazy eyes. The paper is K&Co's Wild Saffron. The layout is Card Patterns #73, and the sentiment is Stampin' Up's Circle of Friendship.

BTW, the frog is cut at 2" and shaded with chalk inks. I also added glaze to his eyes just for the heck of it.

There's also a card feature on this cart, so I cut the "Icky" card at 5.5" in white for the base.

The rest of the cuts are also at 5.5" - regular, layers and shadow. I added sewing around the pansa (belly), one of his crazy eyes and tail. I'm not sure yet about adding a sentiment, but I just had to try the card feature. So I've got a jump start on Halloween!

Have a great Thursday and see you tomorrow with my jump start on Christmas!

Fancy Chicken

Well isn't this a fancy chicken?

I used M's Just Cheeky DCS (scraps only!), the chicken is Designed2Delight colored with Prismas, square nesties and Lipstick Ranger Ink shading. The sentiment is Stampin' Up's Circle of Friendship.

If you don't already know about Designed2Delight's Challenge Blog, if you play along with the current weeks image you get a free image for next week. There is also a new challenge blog called Double Delight, so use the D2D image of the week AND the Double Delight challenge for more chances to win!

This card meets the following challenges:

• Designed2Delight - use the Fancy Chicken!
• Double Delight - POP it up!
• Sunday Sketch and Stamp - sketch #32
• Digital Tuesday - Happy Birthday
• Dare U 2 Digistamp - Stitching
• Charisma Cardz - #28 Pink!

Cute Pair

Happy Tuesday! Here's a quick share:

The papers are from Pink Petticoat, digistamp from MyGrafico, paper pieced and a touch of copics, nesties, Ranger Ink (Denim and Peeled Paint). FYI - I used the rectangle nesties but it was too wide, so I did two cuts with the same die and embossed to get the size I wanted. Sentiment circle is computer generated.

I got this stamp set a while back and I've had this card in mind the entire time. I finally put it all down and think it's cute. Why is the sentiment brown? Because I made it before I picked a color scheme. Oh well. Hope everyone is keeping cool!

This card fits these challenges:

• MyGrafico - Paper Piecing


• Card Positioning Systems - CPS 176

Beautiful Blooms

Hello everyone and welcome to Monday with Squigglefly.

Anyway, hope you all had a great weekend. I had to wait for over 3 hours in 100 degree weather to see Rob Zombie - but I'll tell ya, it was well worth it! He put on a GREAT show!

Oh, but now to Squigglefly. This week over at the SF Blog, the challenge is:

BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS

I didn't want to overdue it with lots of flowers since my image is a little boy-ish, so hopefully my DP is "bloomin'!" I also thought CAS would really compliment this image, Tug of War by Cheryl Alger. I colored them with my Prisma markers, nesties and Peeled Paint and Jeans Ranger Ink. The sentiment is a $1 acrylic set from Michaels and the gorgeous ribbon is Stampin' Up (I won it as a door prize!).

Cheryl's images really are so sweet and wonderfully drawn. So if you have a Beautiful Blooms creation this week, don't forget to link it up at the Squigglefly Challenge Blog.

Have a great Monday and try to keep cool. It's already 92-F outside!

Thinking with Vino

Happy Friday all! Again, I'm looking forward to the weekend. The weather here has been just awful. Super hot (101F), humid, then windy (with LOTS of sand), and I get all sweaty so the sand sticks to me...I could easily be used as a piece of sand paper!

Anyway, on to today's card that should have been posted yesterday for the Double Delight Challenge.

I used the Vino freebie from Designed2Delight. Over at D2D, the challenge is progressive, so if you use the freebie image in your creation that week and link it at the blog, the next week you get another freebie. If you miss the freebie, buy it at the Shop, use it in your creation, and you'll get the next image free. Get it?

This is somewhat CAS, with sewing. The Double Delight challenge was to use the D2D image (of course) AND embossing. I used my swirls Cuttlebug folder for the side. The sentiment is Stampin' Up (Trendy Trees).

You & Me

Hello and welcome to Friday with The Character Cafe! The challenge this week at the TCC Blog is:

RECTANGLE CARD

OK, so I wasn't sure exactly what that was and figured my card technically is in the shape of a rectangle! First, let me share the Character Cafe image I have chosen this week:

Aren't they lovely? Makes me want to be on the beach...of Hawaii...September is just around the corner! Anyway, I made this with my little cousin in mind, whose husband is away on business and won't be back for another month. That has got to be so hard, but at least she can send this to him to let him know she's thinking of him.

DP is Magnolia, image colored with Prisma Premiers, sewing, liquid pearls (first time using these and I about made a mess!), and PTI CS. Layout is Digital Challenge #67. So Prima, if you're reading this, I'll get a few things mailed out to you soon!

Chicken or Rooster

I hate to admit it, but I don't know the first thing about birds. I do know that I really like this digital set from MyGrafico, but I couldn't tell you if it's a boy chicken or a girl chicken.

Both the bird and word window are MyGrafico, and the sentiment is a $1 Acrylic stamp from Michaels...hmmm, I think I'll go there for lunch today to browse. Plus I have a 50% off coupon!

I don't even remember getting this paper! I pulled it out and thought "Hmmm, where did this come from? It sure is purdy!" Oh, the layout is for the MyGrafico challenge, bird colored with copics, nesties and Ranger Ink, PTI, and sewing.

Now this is going to sound silly, but I really like this card. That means I will have trouble parting with it. Does that ever happen to you? Well, I'm going to fight with my OCD and give this away...do you want this card? If so, just let me know and I'll send it to you!

Donkey Smiles

Hello all. I thought I'd make a quick card last night for a special reason. Meljen has created this super cute digistamp and is giving it away for free. She is donating this in hopes that people will make a card to send to Michelle. I don't know Michelle, but I read her blog and despite a recent accident, she is in such high spirits...she truly has strength.

So the stamp is Meljen, colored with Copics, DP is digipaper (I have no clue from where, I just have the files), the sentiment was included with the donkey download, PTI kraft, Ranger Inks (Denim and Tea).

The front is cut short so the sentiment circle is sort of off the page...hopefully you can see that in the photo. I'll be sending this out shortly with well wishes to Michelle and hopes for a speedy recovery.

This card meets the following challenges:

• Meljens Designs - #15 Circles Galore (well, I have one circle!)
• Spoonfull of Sugar - Use Donkey Digi
• Eat Sleep Stamp - ESS Sketch #91

Lip Balm Holder

Happy Monday! Last week I stumbled across Project Tuesday. They have a weekly challenge, but not for cards. Since I've been trying to make more "not-card" items, I thought I'd jump right in. Last weeks challenge was to make a lip balm holder.

First I thought: I don't really need a lip balm holder made of paper. Then I saw the examples and said "duh! It's a cute gift idea!" I was a little slow last week.

I used the small dots paper from Pink Petticoat, the digi is Beach Duck by Mark Hicks from Squigglefly colored with copics (I used white pen on his teeth since I was having coloring issues!), and the Summertime Cricut cut is from Stretch Your Imagination at 3" plus shadow.

OK, so I don't give out much lip balm, but I was thinking with a little adjustment inside, you could easily fit a roll of Life Savers or something! How cool is that? And a little FYI: the challenge today at the Squigglefly Challenge Blog is Christmas in July! So if you want to get a jump start on your cards, make sure to enter your card in the challenge!

Quick Share

Wow I've had a tiring weekend. Saturday, we took the Harley out for a spin to Santa Fe, walked the plaza, and just made the day of it. Today Rysie was over to play with Bean, and it was just so nice to catch up with my family. Good times.

So this is my quick share. This is for a sketch challenge over at Mercy's Tuesday Sketch MTSC81. The ice cream cone is from Cricut cart Stretch Your Imagination, paper is M's Cheeky-Abby, ribbon and sewing. I used my Scor-Pal to make lines on the cone, but they don't seem to show in this pic (edit: according to Sandy, if you do a close up of the pic, you can see my lines!). Good night all and hope you had a great weekend.

Friendship Frog

Hello all and welcome to Friday with The Character Cafe. Today's TCC challenge is:

GATEFOLD

I'm not part of the challenge group this week, so that means I get to use a TCC image on other challenges. This week was a hard one! So many challenges, but not many that really called my name. Anyway, let me show you the digistamp I decided on:

LOL! There's something about his eyes and the placement of his hands that I just love. It's almost like he ate WAY too much birthday cake! If you're wondering why a pink lilly pad....because it's part of a color challenge! And in my little world, life is colorful.

A few details: paper is digipaper from Pink Petticoat, sentiment is Stampin' Up's Circle of Friendship, digistamp is Character Cafe colored with Copics and Prismas, fuzzy "ribbon" is $1 Michael's find, nestabilities with Denim Ranger Ink for shading.

This card meets the following challenges:

• Splitcoaststampers - layout SC288
• Color Throwdown - regal rose, certainly celery, real red, baja breeze
• Little Red Wagon - #36 Nestabilities (LOVE my nesties!!)

So join us this week at The Character Cafe Challenge blog and enter your GATEFOLD card using Mr. Linky for your chance at free digis!

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Thank you to all of you who joined The Character Cafe Blog Hop last week! I have picked one comment using Random.org to win the digistamp, The Dock, that I used in my card and the winner is:

GEORGEI!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------Now just a quick pic of Beanie. I know, I know, it's like 100 degrees outside, but I wanted to show off the hats I made for Bean, Julz, and Bella. I made them using the Knifty Knitter (green) and the Hana Ami for the flower. They're actually quite pretty IRL, and I hope the girls like them!



Have a great weekend everyone!!

Mushrooms Yumm

OK, I've never actually eaten a mushroom my entire life. Believe it or not, it is possible to be almost 40...I mean OVER 30, and never have one of these in your mouth.

Of course, the real ones aren't quite as colorful as this one. My mushroom is from Cricut cart Paisley Cachemire at 3" out of Magnolia papers. I did a bit of shading...now thinking this could be good as a vintage mushroom...hmmmm. The sentiment is Inkadinkado.

There are plenty of pop-dots on this but I still feel it's missing something. The layout is Card Patterns #71 which looks fairly CAS, but I think I could have spiffed it up a little more. Well, back to the drawing board with this one.